Jazz Mafia redefines symphonic music

May 6, 2010

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If you want to go

Jazz Mafia's "Brass Bows and Beats" is at 8 p.m. Saturday at the Grand Sierra Resort Theater. Tickets are $27.50 and $44, available at the Grand Sierra and Ticketmaster outlets or ticketmaster.com. Details: 775-789-2000.

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Say the word "symphony" and you've automatically tuned out a portion of popular music lovers. Change that to "hip-hop symphony," and you may have their attention again.

"Brass Bows and Beats" was conceived as a hip-hop symphony -- one where a diverse group of about 50 musicians, led by creator and trombone player Adam Theis ­-- tips symphonic music on its side. The show includes guest artists, and the stop in Reno includes hip-hop artist Lyrics Born and DJ Qbert. Lyrics Born has performed a handful of the "Brass Bows and Beats" shows with its core collective, the Jazz Mafia. In an interview from his home in Berkeley, Calif., he said "Brass, Bows and Beats" is a great way to introduce jazz to newbies.

"Not only is it jazz, it's so much more," Lyrics Born said. "(Theis) covers so much ground. It's jazz, it's hip-hop, there's some soul in there, there's some funk, there's some musical theater. If I was at the age when I was getting into music (for the first time), this is an amazing thing to see. A lot of kids have probably never seen a string section or a horn section, let alone a string section, a horn section, two rhythm sections, rappers, singers, DJs; it's amazing."

The Jazz Mafia that created the "Brass, Bows and Beats" show is made up of several splinter groups that perform in the San Francisco Bay area. Lyrics Born is no stranger to Reno and Tahoe clubs, nor is the Shotgun Wedding Quintet, one of the Jazz Mafia groups featuring Theis that has played Moody's Bistro in Truckee a number of times. Lyrics Born figures he was a good fit for "Brass, Bows and Beats" because he's the rare artist in hip-hop who performs and records with live musicians.

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"I've been using a band for my live shows for the last seven years," Lyrics Born said. "One of the guys that I used in the studio quite a bit was Adam Theis. On my (upcoming) album and my last album, Theis did all the horn and string arrangements, and I've hired the Jazz Mafia horns to play on my gigs. I guess it was a natural fit for him to ask me to do 'Brass, Bows and Beats.' When we did it the first time last year, I walked into rehearsal and I was just blown away. I wasn't ready for what it was."

Members of the Jazz Mafia have been getting some good gigs. The horn section in recent years backed artists including Carlos Santana, Spearhead, Zion I and Thomas Dolby. This summer, "Brass Bows and Beats" will hit numerous jazz festivals, including Monterey, Montreal, Newport and San Jose.

But the members, including Lyrics Born, won't always be the same.

"I think it's just the nature of musicianship," Lyrics Born said of the changing lineup. "That's one thing I learned when I started working with a band; it's just a different kind of mentality to have different people coming in and out all the time. It keeps it fresh, exciting, it changes the dynamic and it's also great for the show, because people don't see the same thing over and over again."